TRINITY SUNDAY

 

We celebrate today the Solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity, or the Trinity Sunday (A), which is the central mystery of our Christian faith.

We have just proclaimed the Word of God, what does it tell us?

 

1. LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading: Ex 34:4-6, 8-9. The first time Moses went up to Mount Sinai, the people of Israel abandoned their God and worshiped a golden calf. The second time he went up, Moses asked God to please forgive the people their grave sin of idolatry. God forgives them and describes himself thus: “The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.” In the Old Testament God is not yet revealed explicitly as Trinity but as the one – “I am”- who is merciful and gracious!

Second Reading: 2 Cor 13:11-13. Paul asks the Corinthians – and all of us – to love one another with the love of Christ, and invokes the blessing of the Holy Trinity: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”

The Holy Gospel: Jn 3:16-18. It is part of the dialogue of Jesus with Nicodemus, the Jewish Rabbi who visited Jesus at night, and the section where three great values of our Christian faith are underlined. First value is love: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” The second value is faith: “Everyone who believes in Jesus will not be condemned,” but saved. The third value is life: “”He who believes in me…might have eternal life,” which is the true and full life. These three values – love, faith and life – “describe us as Christians, direct us on our journey and make us ready to witness them in our life” (José-Ramón Flecha).

What is the meaning of the Blessed Trinity in our life?

 

1. MEDITATION

The Mystery of the Blessed Trinity is indeed the central mystery of our faith. We were baptized “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” We often make the Sign of the Cross “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” We end the recitation of the Psalms, , of the Mysteries of the Rosary and of our prayers with the “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.” And we make acts of faith, hope and love to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Our God is One and Triune, unity and communion, One God and Three different Persons, or three different relationships: of the Father to the Son, of the Son to the Father, and of the Father and the Son to the Holy Spirit. The Blessed Trinity! Like three faces of the same God, or “three caresses of love,” or “one love and three lovers”!

The mystery of the Trinity is an unfathomable mystery. An old priest who is a bit hard of hearing asks his high school class of religion: “Who is the Trinity?” A boy at the back of the class, on the last row, who had a soft voice answered: “Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” The good old priest tells him: “I cannot understand.” The smart boy answered him: “Father, you are not supposed to understand; it is a mystery.” Yes, a deep mystery we strongly believe in and cannot understand – a mystery we can unveil little by little the more we live our faith in love, as the saints tell us. St. Teresa of Avila, for instance, could see clearly that God is One and Triune at the same time.

What is the meaning of the mystery of the Blessed Trinity?

God is Father, Father/Mother! The first Person of the Blessed Trinity created us and loves us. He is our Life, our Creator and Father.

God is Son! The second Person of the Blessed Trinity becomes man for our sake, and reveals to us God as Father. He, Jesus Christ, dies for us and rises from the dead and sends to his disciples the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father and the Son. He is God and Man, our Savior and Redeemer.

God is the Holy Spirit! The third Person of the Blessed Trinity is the Love of the Father and the Son, God as Grace, Love and Peace, God our advocate and consoler.

Who are Father, Son and Holy Spirit for us?

 

1. RESPONSE

The Blessed Trinity is communion – community of love! We are Christ’s community of faith, hope and love called to live in communion and to sharing with one another and the needy. Our God is not a solitary or lonely God. He is communion and a constant invitation to us to live in the communion of love.

God the Father is the Father of the prodigal son and of the lost sheep who loves us, who forgives us. We are God’s children. Therefore, let us behave as obedient and humble children.

God the Son is the Way we have to walk, the Truth we have to know and communicate to others, and the Life we have to live – a life centered on love of God, neighbor and needy neighbor in particular. Christ is our brother, and in him we are each other’s brother and sister.  Christ is our friend. Therefore, let us behave as brothers and sisters – as friends- of one another.

God the Holy Spirit is the grace of God in us. He dwells in us with the Father and the Son (the awesome indwelling of the Blessed Trinity!). He is the grace that helps us to pray, to be in solidarity with one another, and to work for justice and peace. Therefore, let us be and become more truly people who walk according to the Spirit by our good deeds of kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and hope.

On the Solemnity of the Blessed Trinity, we are asked to examine our faith and devotion to the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. We are urged to examine the primordial Trinitarian attitude in our life: the filial attitude (we are children of God), the fraternal attitude (we are brothers and sisters of Christ and in Christ of one another), and the charismatic attitude (we are prophets or witnesses of the love of God the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit).

With St. Paul I repeat joyfully: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Hoy Spirit be with you all.”Amen

FAUSTO GOMEZ BERLANA, OP

St. Dominic’s Priory

Macau, June 19, 2011